A nose landing gear of an aircraft is generally stored within a volume within the forward section of the aircraft fuselage so as to reduce aerodynamic effects that might penalise the performance of the aircraft. The area around the nose landing gear is the nose landing gear bay. Also, occupying the available volume within the forward section of the aircraft are electronic assemblies, including avionics, radar equipment, and the flight deck. The shape of the nose fuselage influences the performance of the aircraft. If the volume of equipment required to be stored within the nose fuselage is minimised then there is more flexibility to produce a more efficient shape for that fuselage and improve aircraft performance. Also, the walls of the nose landing gear bay are subject to pressurisation and need to be reinforced to contain that pressure. If the pressurised surface area and nose landing gear bay is reduced, then so is the reinforcement needed and hence the mass of the nose landing gear bay.
Typically nose landing gear will have a leg assembly on which there is a pivot which allows the leg assembly to be rotated and stowed in a nose landing gear bay. To restrain the leg assembly and prevent the nose landing gear assembly from collapsing when the aircraft is on the ground or being pushed back when the aircraft is in the air by aerodynamic forces, conventional nose landing gear commonly have a long stay assembly. The stay assembly is normally attached at one end to the aircraft at a point substantially forward and above the nose landing gear assembly and at the other to a point on the nose landing gear leg. The attachment point of the stay assembly to the aircraft and the attachment point of the stay assembly to a leg, both normally lie on axes that are parallel to the axis of the leg assembly pivot.
The stay assembly normally comprises an upper and lower stay member which can fold about a central hinge. When the leg is deployed, the stay assembly is prevented from folding by a locking arrangement which prevents the nose landing gear from being rotated up inside the nose fuselage.
Typically, in a nose landing gear bay, the upper attachment point of the stay assembly on the aircraft structure and the nose landing gear leg attachment to the aircraft are connected together by a reinforced aircraft structure. If the distance between those two points is large then an unnecessary additional weight is added to the aircraft. Keeping the distance small reduces the weight impact on the aircraft so there will be less additional reinforced aircraft structure.
In a conventional arrangement, when the nose landing gear is rotated up inside the nose fuselage during normal flight, the leg is stowed in the nose fuselage with the stay assembly folded above the leg assembly. This increases the nose landing gear bay volume required due to the additional height required within the nose landing gear bay to enclose the folded stay assembly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved nose landing gear arrangement.